The Monster Stack looked a little different this summer.
The $1,500 WSOP staple received a couple of tweaks for the 2026 World Series of Poker, most notably allowing players one reentry per flight after previously being a one-bullet per flight affair. The schedule was also shaken up, with a new structure that somewhat mirrored the WSOP Paradise Main Event.
In years gone by, players started on Day 1 before the field merged on Day 2. This time around, entrants could jump straight into one of four Day 2 starting flights, with the surviving players not combining into a single field until Day 3.
The changes helped push the numbers even higher. Last year’s Monster Stack drew 9,920 entries and built a $13.1 million prize pool. This year, 11,933 entries turned out, creating a prize pool worth more than $15.8 million.
Now, after several days of play and nearly 12,000 entries, only eight players remain. Each is guaranteed $190,000, but all eyes are on the $1,302,125 top prize and the WSOP gold bracelet that comes with it.
Before the final table gets underway on stream at 5:30 p.m. local time, here’s a closer look at the eight players still in contention.
Seat 1: Pierce McKellar (72,600,000 – 30BB)
Occupying Seat 1 is Pierce McKellar, one of several players who has already guaranteed himself a career-best score by reaching the Monster Stack final table.
His previous high-water mark came just six months ago when he finished 20th in the $10,400 WPT World Championship for $121,000. According to The Hendon Mob, that’s also his most recent live cash. Before that, his biggest result came in the 2022 WSOP Main Event, where he turned a deep run into an $86,000 payday.
McKellar comes into the final table fourth in chips and is looking to add a WSOP bracelet to a list of accomplishments that includes four WSOP final tables. Three of those came online, while his lone live final table appearance resulted in a seventh-place finish in the 2019 $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em 6-Handed event.
Interestingly, McKellar only has two recorded tournament victories, with the most recent coming back in 2013. Regardless of where he finishes from here, the run has already become the biggest of his career. The $190,000 he’s locked up would also make 2026 his third-best year on the live circuit, trailing only 2025 and 2022.
Seat 2: Nikolaos Angelou (31,600,000 – 13BB)
Seat 2 belongs to Nikolaos Angelou, a player who needs little introduction to those familiar with the online poker streets.
The Greek has won millions in online poker and built a reputation as one of the toughest grinders around, but a major live breakthrough has so far eluded him.
His previous best result — like McKellar — came in a WSOP $1,500 Six-Handed event, where he finished fourth in 2023 for $151,559. That score still stands as the largest of his $836,045 in recorded live tournament earnings.
Angelou’s last live victory came during the 2024 WPT World Championship festival, where he won a Turbo Bounty event. He also has a pair of WSOP final tables on his résumé and will be looking to make this one count.
While he returns as the short stack, Angelou’s tournament could have looked very different. Late on Day 3, he found himself in a monster pot against fellow finalist Richard Alsup with nearly 100 million chips up for grabs. Angelou’s ace-king couldn’t improve against Alsup’s pocket queens, costing him a chance to vault near the top of the leaderboard.
The setback left him with around 18 million chips, but he spent the rest of the night chipping away and bagged 31.6 million, good for 13 big blinds.
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Seat 3: Salvatore Dicarlo (103,200,000 – 43BB)
Salvatore DiCarlo takes up seat 3 and is the first player in the lineup to crack the 100-million-chip mark. He returns second in chips and is another player who has already locked up the biggest score of his career.
Unlike the first two players on the list, DiCarlo already knows what it feels like to win WSOP gold. He captured a bracelet online last summer, taking down the WSOP Online Mystery Bounty for $120,020. He also owns two WSOP Circuit rings.
DiCarlo’s previous career-best score came in yet another $1,500 WSOP event. Back in 2013, he finished third in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em tournament for $184,914, a mark that has stood for more than a decade until this Monster Stack run.
This isn’t his first deep run in the event either. DiCarlo narrowly missed out on the final table in 2017, finishing tenth in the Monster Stack, and now finds himself just seven players away from redemption.
Hailing from Creve Coeur, Missouri, DiCarlo has been recording live tournament cashes since 2009. Seventeen years later, he’s enjoying the biggest run of his career and starts the final table with a genuine shot of seizing his first live bracelet.
Seat 4: Aaron Massey (38,300,000 – 15BB)
Seat 4 features Aaron Massey, a familiar face on the tournament circuit and one of the most experienced players remaining.
With more than $6 million in live tournament earnings, Massey has been around the block a few times. He’s also one half of the Massey brothers, with Aaron and Ralph becoming well-known names over the last 15 years.
His biggest score remains the $651,559 he won after taking down the $2,000 Event at The River in 2012, a result that helped put him on the poker map. As for the WSOP, his deepest run came in yet another $1,500 event, finishing third in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em tournament in 2014 for $255,209.
Massey has been chasing a bracelet for well over a decade now and has put together plenty of deep runs along the way, but the gold remains missing.
His poker journey is also one of the more unique stories among the final eight, having risen through Chicago’s underground poker scene alongside his brother before both established themselves on the live circuit.
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Seat 5: Matthew Miller (98,500,000 – 41BB)
Coming into the final table third in chips and taking up Seat 5 is Matthew Miller.
Compared to some of the bigger names remaining, Miller arrives with one of the lighter tournament records among the final eight. He has just over $403,000 in recorded live earnings and, prior to this run, his biggest cash was worth $52,541.
That said, Miller knows a thing or two about closing tournaments out. He picked up a pair of WSOP Circuit rings in 2025 at Horseshoe Hammond, and there’s a nice bit of symmetry to one of those victories. It came in a Monster Stack event. He’s already conquered the Circuit version, now he’ll try to do the same on poker’s biggest stage.
The vast majority of Miller’s results have come in events with buy-ins of $500 or less. He’s been steadily building his bankroll and tournament record since 2015, primarily grinding regional stops around the United States.
The Columbia, Maryland resident is making his first WSOP final table appearance, but you wouldn’t know it from his chip stack. Sitting third overall with more than 90 million chips, Miller has already blown past his previous best score and finds himself just a few eliminations away from a life-changing payday.
Seat 6: Richard Alsup (52,300,000 – 21BB)
Richard Alsup will start the final table from Seat 6, bringing with him a bracelet, more than $2.6 million in live tournament earnings, and plenty of experience in big-field events.
The Savage, Minnesota native captured WSOP gold in 2022, taking down the $800 Deepstack for $272,065. That victory remains one of five six-figure scores on his record, a list that is guaranteed to grow regardless of where he finishes in the Monster Stack.
Much of Alsup’s success has come on the MSPT, where he established himself as one of the circuit’s most consistent performers. His results place him eighth on Minnesota’s all-time money list, though he’s still got some ground to make up on fellow Minnesotan Blake Bohn, who sits atop the rankings.
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Seat 7: John Ripnick (54,600,000 – 22BB)
John Ripnick, in Seat 7, has built much of his poker reputation behind a screen, winning a WSOP bracelet and four Circuit rings online. His biggest triumph came in 2021 when he topped the field in the $666 No-Limit Hold’em event for $114,898.
While many players struggle to translate online success into the live arena, Ripnick has managed both. The New Jersey resident broke through for his biggest live score in 2023 when he won the $3,500 Bellagio Kickoff Classic Main Event for $170,884, helping push his lifetime tournament earnings beyond $750,000.
Ripnick returns sixth in chips, just a single big blind ahead of Alsup. It’s not a commanding stack, but it’s more than enough ammunition for a player who has spent years navigating massive fields both live and online. However, the Monster Stack title would comfortably eclipse anything he’s achieved on the live felt.
Seat 8: Kevin Eyster (126,700,000 – 52BB)
When cards go back in the air, all eyes will be on Kevin Eyster.
The man in Seat 8 starts the final table with 126.7 million chips, good for 52 big blinds and the overall chip lead. If anyone is in the driver’s seat heading into the finale, it’s him.
Eyster also boasts one of the strongest records among the remaining players. His $5.5 million in live earnings trails only Massey at this final table, and another deep run could see him climb to the top of Louisiana’s all-time money list. He’s currently second behind Keith Lehr, but a finish of fourth place or better would move him into the top spot.
The Louisiana pro is the only player remaining with a seven-figure score on his record, having won the 2015 WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic for $1,587,382. That victory came two years after he captured the WPT Seminole Hard Rock Showdown for $660,395, giving him a pair of WPT titles.
Nestled between those wins was a WSOP bracelet. In 2014, Eyster took down the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event for $622,998, defeating Pierre Neuville heads-up after navigating a final table that included Andrew Lichtenberger and future all-time money list leader Bryn Kenney.
More than a decade later, Eyster finds himself back in contention for another major title. This time he’ll return as the chip leader.
Calum Grant
Senior Editor & Live Events Executive